The class of linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and one or more ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbons is known in the art. An early production of such polymers is described by Nozaki, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,412, who employed catalyst compositions comprising monodentate phosphorus complexes of palladium moieties and certain inert solvents. More recent production of such polymers is disclosed by a number of published European Patent Applications including 121,965, 181,014, 213,671 and 257,663. The process of such published applications, in preferred embodiments, typically involves a catalyst composition formed from a compound of palladium, an anion of a strong non-hydrohalogenic acid and a bidentate ligand of phosphorus or nitrogen. The resulting polymers are relatively high molecular weight materials having utility as thermoplastic polymers. The linear alternating polymers, now known as polyketones or polyketone polymers, are processed by methods conventional for thermoplastics such as extrusion, injection molding or thermoforming into shaped articles having a variety of applications including the production of containers for food and drink.
When the ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon to be employed in the production of linear alternating polymers is cyclic and complex, certain special considerations arise during the polymerization process. Linear alternating copolymers of carbon monoxide and a hydrocarbon norbornene-type compound are produced in the presence of a catalyst composition produced from a palladium compound, the anion of a strong non-hydrohalogenic acid and a bidentate ligand of nitrogen, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,279. These polymers are also produced in the presence of a HPd(CN).sub.3 catalyst complex as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,123. However, when the more recent and generally preferred catalyst compositions based in part on a bidentate ligand of phosphorus are employed, the linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon norbornene-type compound are not observed at the typical reaction conditions including a reaction temperature below 100.degree. C. It would be of advantage to provide a process for the production of such copolymers in the presence of the more preferred catalyst complexes formed from, inter alia, a bidentate ligand of phosphorus.